Background on the Roundup Power Project

In 1997, MEIC opposed the deregulation of Montana’s electric utility industry for several reasons. One was a concern that the underlying laissez-faire philosophy on which it was based, and the specific structural changes being made, would spur a new wave of fossil fuel-based energy development. It looked likely that this development would proceed without proper regard to long-term planning, optimization of resources, or broader social and environmental considerations.

Now, that new era is decidedly upon us, with a half-dozen coal or natural gas-fired power plants already permitted, and numerous others in the works. By far the largest, most polluting, and most symbolic is the Roundup Power Project.

The Roundup Power Project is a 780-megawatt coal-fired power plant proposed by the New York City-based Bull Mountain Development Co. The $910 million power plant, which would be located 13 miles south of Roundup and 35 miles north of Billings, would consume 2.7 million tons of bituminous coal per year from the adjacent Bull Mountain mine. The project would also include a new, high-voltage, 28-mile transmission line, and 4-6 wells drilled into the 8,500-foot- deep Madison formation to obtain 1.5 million gallons per day of cooling water.

MEIC has numerous objections to this plant, arising from its unacceptably large impact on the environment. In general, conventional coal-fired power plants are the most polluting form of power generation, for a wide variety of pollutants. Nationwide, coal-fired power plants produce more sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide, and mercury than any other fossil fuel or energy source, both in absolute terms and relative to the amount of energy that they produce. In the specific case of the Roundup Power Plant, its sheer magnitude, combined with this underlying technology, results in extremely high emission rates. The air quality permit application included the emission inventory in the chart at right.

In addition, the company’s own projections indicate that the plant would release 8.2 million tons of CO2 per year. Carbon dioxide is the principal greenhouse gas of concern due to the enormous volumes released by the combustion of fossil fuels. Globally, nationally, and in Montana, power plants are the leading sources of CO2 emissions, with coal-fired power plants being the primary culprit. According to DEQ’s “Montana Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory,” Montana’s CO2 emissions total for the year 1990 was 30,902,300 tons. The Roundup Power Plant would single-handedly increase that total by 27%.

Another major pollutant of concern is mercury. Coal-fired power plants are the primary source of mercury pollution in the United States, and the only major source that remains unregulated. According to the developer, the Roundup Power Project would release 220 pounds of mercury into the atmosphere each year, a 32% increase over the mercury emissions from all of Montana’s existing coal-fired power plants.

Neither the developer nor the State has adequately demonstrated that Montana’s air quality will be protected if this plant is built. Affected Class I air sheds include the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, UL Bend National Wildlife Refuge, and even Yellowstone National Park. It is MEIC’s position that the levels of pollution to be emitted by Roundup are simply unacceptable, especially when cost-effective, technologically proven, and clean energy alternatives are readily available. Moreover, it is MEIC’s belief that the Montana Constitution requires that these alternatives be turned to first.

Numerous other questions surround this plant, the most basic of which is whether the power is even needed. With the deregulation of the electric utility industry and the all-out successful assault on the Major Facility Siting Act, there is no longer any coordinated long-term planning or analysis of need. Developers are free to speculate on such projects, and to sell their product to the highest bidder, wherever that market might be. Among the many unknowns are where the power will be sold, how it will be transported, and even what the eventual ownership of the plant will be. What is known is that Montana already produces nearly twice the electricity it consumes, and has no use for such large additional quantities. As a matter of public policy, Montana ought not be the “boiler room of the nation.” Montanans ought not tolerate a situation whereby the electricity and the profits generated by these plants flow to out-of-state consumers and investors, while the pollution remains behind.

Because constitutional questions and MEPA-related issues are outside the direct jurisdiction of the Board of Environmental Review, the administrative appeal process will focus on the specifics of the air quality permit. Federal and state laws require the agency to conduct a thorough analysis of all technologies that are available for controlling each regulated pollutant. The law further requires that the most effective of these technologies be implemented. Unfortunately, DEQ failed to abide by these laws. As a result, Montanans are not being afforded the same level of protection as is being required in other states.

MEIC will fight vigorously to ensure that the Roundup Power Project comes into full compliance with all federal and state standards and policies, including the Montana constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment.

• See FACT SHEET on emissions inventory for the proposed Roundup Power Plant.